Deagan and Alex committed themselves to a two-day backpacking elopement that would challenge their physical and mental strength on the strenuous hike to the summit of Mount LeConte. It was a representation of perseverance and reconnection to life force. An experience like this is bound to change you, but the time spent together unlocked more than we ever anticipated while planning the adventure elopement in the Smoky Mountains.

Life is transformation. We are stripped, fragmented, and fractured into our many moving parts time and time again. We are the watchers from within, sitting front row to experience the ever-changing nature of the Universe. This change, this pattern, shows itself throughout our external world. Indigenous people believe ferns represent new beginnings. The dense ferns that draped the entire forest floor on our first camping trip were present in the many unfolding moments of Us that followed. Our story is powerful, and the symbolic journey we see and feel reminds us that the world is alive and breathing.

There’s a soft magic in the Great Smoky Mountains. The mist lingers like a secret whispered by the earth, and the land hums with stories older than time. Of all the national parks in the U.S., this one draws more visitors than any other, over twelve million each year. But it’s not just the views they seek. It’s something deeper, a feeling, a connection, a return to something wild.

In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about tying the knot in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.